


Fall of Icarus

by Blameitonmymind



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alpha!Jack, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Dimensions, But sometimes he's nice, Handsome Jack is an asshole, I dunno if any of this will make sense, M/M, Minor Character Death, Omega!Rhys, Rhys as Jack's PA, or at least an attempt at them - Freeform, tags will be added as the story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-09-17 04:05:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9303377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blameitonmymind/pseuds/Blameitonmymind
Summary: Jack drags Rhys down to Pandora to observe a weapon testing that promised to change the war against bandits.The weapon rips a hole in the fabric of space time.Jack is pissed.Rhys just wants to not die on Pandora. That would be great.





	1. A Rip in the Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Hooo boy, here we go.

In the weeks leading up to the trip to Pandora, Rhys was a nervous wreck. He'd heard all the stories, seen what kind of creatures lived on the hostile planet.  He had seen the case files of injuries obtained by scientists doing experimentation on said creatures, the madness that it brought to the poor souls that inhabited the planet for too long.

Pandora was _hell_. And yet here he was, climbing aboard the shuttle that would take them down to the weapons testing facility located on the planets surface.

Rhys desperately wanted to back out, but being fairly new to his job as Handsome Jack's PA, and being an omega too, it was hard to deny the alpha what he wanted (the threat of being killed if he didn't do as the man said notwithstanding).

  
Why he wanted Rhys to accompany him down to the planet was beyond him. Rhys shuddered as he buckled himself into his seat, glancing over at the CEO as the man did the same.

"Awfully quiet over there cupcake. Can smell the fear off you."

Rhys felt his face heat up in embarrassment, "Sorry sir, I - I'm just nervous, is all. First time going to Pandora."

Jack grunted and pulled out his ECHO device. "Yeah well, I told you to stop looking at all those files didn't I?  Just don't throw up or I'll drown you in your own vomit."

Let it be said, that Handsome Jack wasn't known for being comforting.

"R-right, of course sir."

 

\--------------------------

 

" ... and once the device powers up, it will in theory pull any organic being within 50 to 100 feet into the kill zone of 10 feet, like so, and vaporize them."

"Hmm daddy likes the sound of that." Jack hummed, staring out at the device in question.

Project Eradicator was, in Rhys's unspoken - but completely valid - opinion was a fucking nightmare. The brainchild of Handsome Jack himself, the machine was designed to be a 'one-shot, mass-genocide' type weapon that could effectively wipe out the bandit population without the resource waste of sending down an army of loader-bots, or destructive result of moon-shotting the absolute shit out of the land, potentially destroying any valuable resources (eridium) in the process.

The mere thought of being able to commit mass murder like that at the press of a button; of hundreds - thousands even - of lives being wiped out in an instant, even if they were psychos or bandits or whatever. Well. It made Rhys want to throw up.  
The omega, however, also wanted to live. So he swallowed down any reservations he had and continued to take notes.

"What do you think Rhysie?"

The CEO draped his arm over the omega's shoulders, his Alpha scent overwhelming Rhys momentarily. He shook his head lightly and cleared his throat to reply.

"Well sir, I think it seems to be very effective in theory."

The alpha frowned, displeased at the lack of enthusiasm In his PA.

"In theory eh? Fair enough princess; gotta see the goods before you make the deal, that's true." He clapped his hands together and turned to the group of nervous scientists gathered in the room, "Alright nerds, fire this bad boy up! I wanna see those skags get vaporized!"

Rhys sighed, even if part of him relished in the brief contact of the man he once idolized.  Being up close and personal with the man for the past several weeks had put a damper on those feelings of admiration.

What was the saying? Don't meet your heroes?

As the death machine powered up and Jack let out a giddy chuckle, his dual-coloured eyes manic and his toothy smile murderous, Rhys allowed himself to feel a tinge of regret as he turned his gaze to the machine as well. He really was starting to regret taking this job.

They were a safe distance away from the testing zone. The window that they stood behind a thick, blast-proof and bullet-proof design that had a built in monitor. That monitor allowed them to have a close up view as the machine reached its peak power levels. Rhys looked to the unfortunate test subjects that prowled around the construct. The skags seemed almost scared as they paced around; as if they were aware of their own impending demise.

Rhys drew his gaze back to the machine, not wanting to think on that any further.

"The machine is almost fully charged Handsome Jack sir. W-would you care to do the honours?" The scientist from before asked, offering up the detonator in his trembling hands.

"Hell yeah I would, gimme!"

A counter came up on the screen, twenty seconds remaining on the clock. Jack squeezed his shoulder, and Rhys could feel that the man was practically vibrating in his excitement.

"Five seconds remaining."

"Oh hohoho here it comes!"

3 ...

2 ...

1 ...

 _"Project Eradicator is ready for deployment."_ The modulated voice of the computers AI announced.

Jack pressed the button with a maniacal laugh. Rhys closed his eyes. The scientists around them prayed.

And . . .

Nothing . . . Happened?

"Are you . . . Are you freaking kidding me?" Jack muttered, and Rhys whimpered quietly at the rage in his voice.

"Alright, which one of you idiots wants to die first? I'll let you go ahead and pick because -"

Whatever threatening words Jack was about to say we're drowned out in a deafening explosion.

Rhys opened his eyes.

  
The monitors flickered as the machine exploded, months of engineering gone in an instant. However, what remained was what Rhys could only describe as a giant . . . hole in the sky miles above the remains of the Eradicator.

"What the hell is that? What did you idiots do?!"

As the room burst into a flurry of activity, Rhys stood there unable to take his eyes off the hole in the sky. A rip in the fabric of reality. It was like looking into nothingness, and having the unshakeable feeling of something looking right on back.

Rhys activated his echo eye to get a closer look. The readings that poured out as the eye attempted to analyze what he was seeing were overwhelming at best. But it caught something . . .

Flashes of light in the darkness.

"There's, something in there?" Rhys voiced out loud, but in the chaos no one heard him.

The flashes of light continued to get brighter and more erratic as seconds passed. The lights began to cast shadows in the nothingness, somehow. Rhys felt his heart quicken as the shadows took form into -

"There's something in there! There's something in the hole!"

Again, his voice was lost amongst the panic of the scientists, and the bellows of Jacks rage.

Any warning that Rhys could have given was too late.

The thing . . . whatever it was, fell into Pandora with an unholy roar.


	2. The Abomination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys watches in helpless fear as something that shouldn't exist falls from the sky.

\-------

  
Silence descended on the room.

Vaughn had once upon a time described to him what an eldritch abomination was in attempts to spook him one Halloween (it had worked too, Rhys hated horror stories, and he didn't sleep for weeks after that).  What fell from the tear in the sky, well, it came close.

Well, no.  It was worse.

Definitely worse. Because it was _real_.

It twisted violently, a horrific amalgamation of claws and tentacles lashing about as it uselessly tried to slow its descent to the ground. Jack approached the window again, with a look of wonder on his face as he took in the sight.

"Did you morons somehow manage to pull a vault monster out of thin air?"

As the impact of the creature hitting the ground shook the facility (a terrifying fest considering how far away they were) Rhys' only thoughts were if that was indeed a vault monster, it would be better for everyone if the fall had killed the beast.

There was not much they could do but wait for the dust to clear. Jack brought up his echo device to send word to Helios to ready the moon-shot cannon, just in case.  Rhys returned his gaze to the sky. Dust and debris in the air impaired his view of the tear, but not enough that he missed the second entity falling through into their world. Unthinking, Rhys grabbed onto the CEO's arm to get his attention.

"Sir! Something else just fell out of the tear!"

"Another freaking vault monster? Son of a taint . . . I need eyes out there people! Right freaking now!" Jack yelled.

Outside the building, the abomination let out a soul piercing shriek following the sound of gunfire and explosions. One of the scientists sent out several surveyors to give them eyes on the situation.

Inside the cloud of dust, tentacles writhed and struck out at random, the flash of gunfire casting a shadow play of a battle raging inside the cloud.  Had a group of unfortunate bandits decide to shoot the creatures?

"What the hell is going on out there?" Rhys hissed.

"Get those surveyors closer damnit!"

"Right away sir!"

Soon it became clear that whatever it was that fell through the rift after the abomination, it was fighting the creature. As one surveyor drew closer to the fight, the dust cleared just enough to give them all an untainted view.  It wasn't a vault monster.

A robot larger than anything that Hyperion ever manufactured was relentlessly attacking the creature. It moved with an elegance that was far removed from the stilted, heavy movements of a typical loader bot. In fact, the only similarity to be found was in the yellow-gold platings of the construct. It danced around the tentacles that lashed out, firing multiple shots from its shoulder mounted cannon before leaping away just in time to avoid being crushed underneath a massive tentacle.  Dust kicked up again, and the cameras of the surveyor were blinded once more.

"Switch to infrared!" Jack demanded. "And give me an analysis on that bot! I wanna know whose it is!"

The monitors flickered once again as the scientist controlling the surveyors complied with Jack's demands. The display now showed the fearsome battle going on miles away front of them, as well as still images that were captured of the robot.

"There's no visible markings, and no recognizable similarities to any known manufacturer from these photos sir. Whoever made this bot must have wanted to keep it a secret." Her brows furrowed in confusion as more data from the surveyors poured in, "And the creature, sir, whatever that thing is - it's not a vault monster."

"It's not a vault monster? Then what the hell is it?"

"I-I don't know! It doesn't match anything in any of our databases. It's new!"

A gunshot rang out followed by the muffled thud of a body hitting the floor. In fact, everything was muffled, from the gunshot or the shock finally making itself known, it was hard to say. Rhys desperately wanted to surrender to his overwhelming instinct to run, to curl up into a ball and hide away from the alpha's rage. But he couldn't move; he just stood there and prayed that that anger wasn't turned on him next.

Another explosion sounded off in the distant battle. The creatures ungodly screeching grew loud enough to rattle the windows, before dying off suddenly. Then, well, there was nothing but silence.

 

\----------------------

 

After the dust settled, it was clear that the creature was dead, its massive form unmoving in the distance.  Jack insisted that they investigate the remains, though his disappointment was clear when the surveyors could not locate the winner of the battle. If the robot had indeed won.  Chances were high that it had been destroyed in the battle as well.  Rhys almost felt disappointed too.

The omega sat in the back of the technical with a beta scientist, and Jack at the wheel. The beta was a nervous wreck, sweat dripping down the man's face as he shakily prepared equipment to take readings of the monsters corpse.

Rhys would normally try to comfort the man, but he himself was still shaking in his boots. With what they had all just witnessed, not to mention the anger that still permeated the air around the alpha, he wasn't sure if his body could handle much more stress.

After the technical came to a sudden stop, Jack eagerly jumped out of the vehicle, tossing a - "C'mon cupcake, let's go!" - over his shoulder. Rhys scrambled out of his seat to follow the alpha.

The first thing that struck him was the smell of it; awful didn't even scratch the surface of it as the putrid smell of the abomination assaulted his senses. Rhys shoved is face into the elbow of his sleeve in attempts to block it out.

"That, that is a smell. This thing come from a freakin poop dimension or something?" Jack muttered, nose wrinkling in disgust.

A laugh bubbled up from Rhys before he could stop it. Even if it was muffled by his sleeve, Jack still heard him; he cast a grin over at his PA, giving him an appraising once-over.

"Doing alright there, Rhysie? Things got a little intense back there. Haven't scared you off yet have I?" The CEO asked, making eye contact with the PA.

The unexpected care in his voice, as well as the intense gaze of the man, threw Rhys for a loop.

"I'm - I'm okay, sir." Rhys managed, before shyly breaking the mans gaze, "Thank you for asking."

The alpha was silent for a moment.

"Good. Go help that idiot set up the equipment."

Rhys nodded and walked back over to the technical to help the struggling beta with setting up the scanner equipment, grateful for the distraction.

He softly greeted the beta and moved to help him carry the scanner that he was trying to remove from the back of the vehicle.

"Thanks man, this is heavier than it looks."

"Wow, no kidding. Where's it going?"

The beta jerked his head in the direction that he wanted to set up, and off they went. As they set it down with a loud thud, the ground shook.

"Whoa, what the hell?" Rhys yelped, almost losing his balance.

"Uhh, the scanner is definitely not that heavy." The beta quipped, looking around wide-eyed.

Rhys looked over to Jack, who was also in a similar state of confusion. Rhys caught his attention with a wave.

"Sir?"

The ground shook again, only this time it continued to shake, getting stronger each second, with a loud accompanying thud that also grew louder and louder. The alpha's eyes widened in realization, and he started to move.

"Rhys! Get back to the vehicle! Now!" He shouted.

Rhys came to the sudden conclusion as he jumped into action at the alphas order: the rhythm of the shaking, the sound.

The robot wasn't destroyed. It was coming their way.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just love them cliffhangers, eh?
> 
> Sorry. Writing as fast as my thumbs can type on this stupid phone.


	3. The Robot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Rhys meet the Robot. It doesn't go quite the way they imagine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'know, what they say is true: comments and kudos are like throwing jet fuel on a bonfire.
> 
> Well. They don't really say that, but I'm sure you know what I mean.

 

Rhys ran as fast as he could, but it was too late. The construct appeared from behind a particularly large tentacle, the sound of its mechanics whirring and clanking loudly as it moved. It peered down at the three humans fleeing towards the vehicle with a dispassionate red gaze.

Rhys slammed into the side of the technical in his hurry, shaking hands fumbling with the door handle. The beta was not far behind him, nor was Jack, but Jack wasn't even running anymore, having come to a stop just as the giant robot did. Rhys stepped away from the door, and the beta immediately took over, clambering into the vehicle after ripping the door open.

Rhys let out a panicked whine as he moved to the CEO's side. "Sir? Shouldn't we, y'know, be running?"

"Why isn't it doing anything?"

Rhys looked back up at the thing, meeting the red glow of the robots gaze as it stood there, unmoving, yet watching them.  A thrill ran down his spine; it was almost as if the thing was staring right through him.

"Maybe . . . Maybe it only kills giant tentacle monsters?" Rhys shrugged.

The robot hummed as if in response to what the omega said and Rhys yelped. Jack shuffled back a few steps, glancing over at his PA.

"Yeah I wouldn't count on it. Get in the car kiddo."

Rhys scrambled back over to the vehicle to grab the door again, but tripped when the robot moved again. The metal of its yellow-gold body groaned as it knelt down on the ground with one knee. Rhys clambered to his feet to watch in awe.

There was a loud hiss of depressurization as the robots chest plate moved, the sound of hydraulic's opening up the plating there to reveal. . .

"Son of a taint. It's not a robot, it's a freakin Mech suit!"

To reveal the pilot inside.

 

\-------------------

 

Rhys was feeling about as awed as Handsome Jack sounded. Together they watched as the person pulled themselves out of the mech to stand on the platform that was formed by the mech's chest plate. The flight suit they wore was opposite to the machine, mostly black with subtle accents of the same yellow gold of the mech. Rhys' echoeye spit out some basic info on the pilot, including an approximate weight and height, but it went unnoticed as Rhys continued to stare.

There was a long awkward moment, where neither side of this strange mutual stare down did anything.

Then, the pilot waved at them.

Jack scoffed and glared back. Rhys hesitantly returned the greeting, waving quickly before Jack noticed.

The pilot leapt off the platform and landed gracefully several feet in front of them. An impressive feat in itself as the mech was still quite tall, even if it was currently kneeling down.

The pilot approached the pair slowly, coming to a stop a few feet away.

"Sup. What planet is this?"

Out of all the things Rhys imagined them saying, that was not what he expected the pilot's first words to be.

"It's Pandora?" Jack stated like it should have been obvious.

"Wow, wasn't talking to you, knot-head. I was talking to him," the pilot gestured to Rhys. "And this can't be Pandora, it looks like a fucking shithole."

Rhys cringed and Jack growled at the blatant disrespect.

"No no no, see, that's not how this works. You talk to me hot-shot, not my freakin PA." He spat, hands clenching in anger.  "And yeah, it's Pandora.  Of course it looks like that."

The pilot cocked their head to the side, confused, "I'm sorry, did you just call him your PA? Is this some kind of joke? Alpha's aren't allowed to be leaders, what kind of twisted world do you live in?"

"Uh the real one, idiot. Who the hell are you anyways? Who do you work for?"

The pilot groaned, lifting one hand up to the side of his helmet. Whatever he did, cause the helmet to disappear not unlike a digi-struction. The face of the man inside was shockingly familiar.

"What."

"Yeah. My name is Captain Jack Lawrence, of the Hyperion Mech Force. Now I'm guessing that's not what you do, other me."

Minus the mask, there was no denying that the pilot, this _Captain Lawrence_ , looked almost identical to Handsome Jack. Rhys' echoeye even confirmed it as a 92% match. Same hairstyle, same nose, same lips, same build . . . But the differences were what really got to Rhys. Captain Lawrence, had a long scar starting from his forehead and moving down over his left eye and ending at the middle of his cheek. Whatever caused such a wound had destroyed his eye, as it glowed with the unmistakable light of an echoeye. And his hair was missing that streak of grey that Handsome Jack had (apparently he had someone thrown out an airlock for pointing it out once), indicated that he was possibly younger too.

Rhys was taken out of his observation when the man turned to him.

"And you! You're a fucking assistant? To me? Pretty sure that's the craziest shit I've heard all day." He laughed with a slight hysterical tinge. "Like, wow, you hearing this shit, Wilhelm?"

Rhys noticed that that name caught Jack's attention.

"Yeah boss. They ain't lying." A gruff voice comes from the mech, alarming both Rhys and Jack. "Scans confirm it."

The laughter was gone in an instant, "Son of a bitch!"

"Who was that?" Jack whispered to Rhys as the Captain went on a colourful tangent.

Rhys shrugged, "I can't see anyone else over there."

"Can't believe this. Stupid fucking hero complex. Why the hell did I think that pushing the damn creature through was a good idea. Fuck!"

That was another difference too, the swearing. The Captain began pacing back and forth, hands gripping at his hair anxiously. He continued muttering to himself, but stopped suddenly, whirling around to face the mech.

"What's your status Wil? Think you can get us back through that wormhole?"

"Negative, the wormhole was already on the verge of collapse upon our exit. Even if my systems were fully operational, which they aren't, we wouldn't make it back through before it closed with us trapped inside."

"Shit. MotherFUCKING SHIT!" The Captain screamed. "There's gotta be something! I can't - I can't be stuck here. I gotta get back to my daughter Wilhelm."

" . . . Daughter?" Rhys whispered and looked to Jack for confirmation.

The CEO was stone faced, watching the Captain with a calculating gaze.

There was a long silence.

"I'm sorry Jackie."

A thunderous boom ripped through the air as the rip in the sky closed in on itself. Handsome Jack said nothing as he watched the strange reflection of himself fall to his knees and weep, but Rhys felt his heart break for the man. He didn't know what was going through the CEO's head, but there was one thing he knew for sure.

Captain Jack Lawrence, was there to stay, and their lives were never going to be the same.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably not what you were expecting if you didn't find this story through my tumblr post.
> 
> But yeah. Two Jack's. Ohhh my~


	4. The Captain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotions run high. Ice cream is discussed. A tentative truce is struck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a little longer than I thought it would. Sorry!

  
It was some time later that Captain Lawrence regained his composure. Jack had walked away shortly after the man had started crying, his expression dark and haunted, and had been talking to someone over his ECHOcomm ever since. That left Rhys alone, standing vigil as the man stranded in a dimension not his own, mourned the thought of never seeing his daughter again.

"I don't suppose you have a trans-dimensional wormhole device kicking around." His voice was watery, and Rhys felt his throat tighten in sympathy. He shook his head, and the Captain sighed. "Yeah I kinda figured as much."

Rhys felt lost, standing watch over the man as he stared up at the sky. He couldn't even imagine the grief that he would feel if could never see Vaughn or Yvette again, but a child?

"Your daughter . . ." Rhys began, "what's her name?"

"Angel." The man replied with a sigh, "she's gonna be six years old in two days."

Six years old.

Rhys' empathetic heart couldn't take any more, and he sniffled. "I - I'm so sorry this happened to you."

The man jolted suddenly and Rhys startled as the man jumped to his feet, swiping quickly at the tears that had gathered in his own eyes.

"Hey now, you okay? Rhys?" The Captain's focus was all on him now, his eyebrows raised in concern.

"What?" It was baffling; the man's eyes were still red from his own tears, and yet now he was concerned about Rhys? It only served to upset him more, "You're asking m-me that?"

"Well, yeah," he replied as if it were obvious, "Sunshine, it's kinda my fault you got all worked up, with me throwing around my emotions like that."

While not entirely true - as Rhys's day, hell his whole month, had been a freaking roller coaster ride of crazy - Rhys appreciated the unexpected display of kindness from a face he generally related to his not so kind boss. It was surprising that the man was even aware of the outside influence that affected an omega's mood.

It was too much. 'God, am I really gonna cry because of this?'

Yes. Yes he was.

There was no point in holding it back, it had been a long time coming. Rhys was unfortunately one of those types of criers that, once they got going, it was hard to stop until they were all cried out. He covered his face in embarrassment, sobbing as quietly as he could manage.

"Aw shit, kiddo."

"You should call his Alpha back over, Jackie." Wilhelm spoke up, his rumbling voice soft.

Rhys whined, uttering a quiet 'he's not my alpha', but it was too muffled behind his hands for the Captain to understand.

"Yeah, well. Looks like his alpha is busy." A light touch to Rhys' shoulder sent a shiver through him.

"Hm."

"Keep an eye on Other Me for me big guy?" He looked up at the Mech that was still idling by.

"Sure, Jackie."

Rhys was trying to control his breathing, but his quiet sobs dissolved into hiccups that hurt his chest and made it hard to breathe. The light touch the Captain offered became gentle circles, the sensation soothing some of the stress that had built up.

"What do you need Rhys?" Jack whispered. "Hug? I'm the best hugger. Big tub of ice cream? That's my go to when I'm upset. That or a big greasy cheeseburger and enough curly fries to choke an elephant with."

The omega knew what the man - the alpha, he corrected himself as he caught a whiff of his scent - was trying to do, and he laughed wetly, moving his hands to reply, "I - I could go for some ice cream."

"Yeah? What kind?" Jack encouraged him on, his hand moving to rub between his shoulders.

Rhys sniffled as he thought for a moment, wiping tears off his face, "Double chocolate peanut butter."

The Captain whistled lowly, "Can't say I've tried that one, but that does sound awesome."

Rhys giggled, "It is pretty awesome."

"Well, we will just have to make sure that your alpha gets you the biggest tub of it they have."

Rhys shook his head, "I don't have an Alpha, actually."

The look of confusion was almost comical on the man's face. The Captain glanced over to where Jack was standing, still talking to someone over his ECHO.

"Wait, did you think that-"

"Hey, HEY! Hands off my PA!"

His conversation apparently over, Handsome Jack was now glaring over at his double pointedly. The Captain removed the hand that had been absently rubbing between Rhys' shoulder blades with an air of exasperation.  Rhys already missed the warmth of the alpha's large palm.

"Don't get your panties all tied up in a knot, Handsome." The pilot snidely replied.

The CEO snarled as he stalked back over, the picture of a territorial alpha. He grabbed Rhys by the wrist to pull him away from the other alpha as he placed himself between the two. He gave the omega a quick once over, eyes narrowing on the younger mans tear stained face. The alpha whipped around to growl at the pilot.

"What did you do to him?"

Rhys stared at the back of Jack's head, unsure of where this strange . . . protectiveness was coming from.

"Sir, uh, Jack. Captain Lawrence didn't do anything. I just - it's been a very stressful day, a-and just hearing about - about his daughter. . ." Rhys stuttered, trying not to get emotional again. "He was just helping me calm down."

The CEO looked back to his PA, eyes intense as he studied his face.

Jack let go of his wrist after a moment with a quiet huff.

"Go wait in the car pumpkin. Need a moment with my evil twin here."

The Captain scoffed at the moniker, and Rhys nodded, turned and walked over to the technical. He looked back once to see the Captain and the CEO both watching him with same worried expression.

It was weird.

\-------------------

"So you're stuck here." Jack said after a moment of silence.

Captain Lawrence nodded, expression solemn, "The device was meant to be a one way trip. The President didn't want those things able to make their way back through."

" _Eugh_ , did you just say _things_? There's more?"

The Captain sighed, "Yep. They started appearing all over the galaxy about five years ago; chowing down on trade ships, then space stations - next thing we knew, they were attacking the colonies. The Hyperion army was able to manage them at first, though not before the damage was done - the bastards hardly pick up on any scanners so we had no way of knowing when or where they'd hit next." He paused, frustration clear.

"Then - then the bastards started getting harder to bring down. The Mech forces were called in, a little too late if you ask me. That's when they started getting too close to the highly populated colonies. The President ordered the use of the wormhole device as a last ditch effort to keep the fight from reaching the colony."

"It almost worked perfectly, except for the fact that the fucker wasn't getting pulled in fast enough. So me and Wilhelm here, being the big god damn heroes that we are, decided that someone was gonna have to push the big bitch into the wormhole. Didn't count on getting sucked in too, but hey, it worked right?"

"Yeah, yeah that's great. Good for them, it freakin worked. What does that mean for us? Your president just gonna keep dumping their problems into our universe?"

"Probably. You have an army capable of fighting these fuckers?"

"DaaaaamnIT!!"

"Then, I guess we better get to work?"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now to sleep off this headache.


	5. What Was Left Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio begin to plan. Elsewhere, terrible news is delivered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long!

The technical rattled periodically as they drove back to the complex with Captain Lawrence following behind them in the mech.  Wilhelm was able to keep pace easily, walking a short distance behind, red gaze casting an eerie glow inside the vehicle.  It was a little unnerving to look in the rearview and see nothing but two large mechanical feet following them.  But some part of Rhys was finally taking note of how goddamn cool it was.

 

He glanced over at Jack, who had been quiet ever since he got back in the technical.  He seemed anxious, almost; whatever he had talked about with his alternate self was clearly weighing on his mind. Part of Rhys wanted to ask him if he was alright, but past experience said that was a bad idea.  So he sat quietly, glancing back and forth between the rear view mirror and the alpha.

 

"Rhys."

 

"Uh, yes sir?"

 

"I need you to schedule a conference call with the heads of engineering, programming, and R&D, pumpkin.”

 

"Of course, uh, any particular reason I should give them?"

 

"No.  But if they complain, feel free to let them know I'm always in the mood for a good strangling session."

 

"Right."

 

Rhys connected to the network to do just that, making sure to mark the emails as high priority so that the department heads knew that their lives were on the line.

 

"Emails are sent, sir.  Do you . . .  Do you need anything else?"

 

Jack tapped the steering wheel with his index finger, then let out a long gusting sigh. That, more than anything else Rhys had witnessed today, scared him.

 

"You're a good PA, kiddo."

 

“What?” Rhys had a hard time processing the fact that Handsome Jack had just complimented him. "Whoa.  Did you just - Oh my god, we're all gonna die aren't we?"

 

"Uuuugh, If you start freaking out again I'm gonna shove that stupid tie of yours in your mouth."  The alpha growled.

 

"Sorry!  Sorry, I'm good."  Rhys took a deep breath, "Thank you, Jack."

 

"Yeah, yeah.  If you tell anyone I said that. . ." the threat lingered in the air, teasing almost.

 

"You'll kill me?"

 

Rhys was suddenly glad that the beta scientist was left behind to study the corpse of the abomination, Jack was - the man was  _ different _ when they were alone together; almost charming at times.  The man smirked at him, but said nothing more.  Rhys took a moment to remind himself that that charming version of the man could disappear at the flip of a switch.  It wouldn’t do to fall back on those old infatuations that Rhys felt for the alpha before he met him.

 

The complex was just ahead, and Rhys could see the occupants of the place crowding near the entrance to stare at Wilhelm as the mech approached.  Jack drove the technical up to the entrance, shutting off the vehicle and climbing out, Rhys did the same after a moment.  The scientists hesitantly approached the CEO, the alpha glared at them as they approached.

 

“S-sir, we have the data readout from the Eradicator.  I-It appears that the  _ anomaly _ -”

Jack held a hand up to stop the woman’s stuttering tirade, “Shuuuut up, I  _ know _ .  The wormhole interfered with the electronics of the machine and it blew up.  So guess what?  Today is your lucky day, eggheads.  You get to continue living, if you get out of my sight in the next ten seconds.”

 

The scientists scattered like startled mice, and Jack huffed out an amused chuckle, “Never gets old.”

 

“You’re kind of an asshole, ya know?” Captain Lawrence’s voice piped up, sounding slightly distorted from inside the cockpit of the mech. “Like, I know I can be a jerk sometimes - well, a lot of the time - but I don’t exactly threaten people like that.”

 

Jack glared up at the mech, “Why don’t you climb out of your giant robot and say that to my face, Handsome.”

 

Wilhelm let out a rumbling growl, “I am an ICARUS MKVII Mech Soldier.  My AI was created from the neural scans of the most highly decorated soldier in Hyperion’s army.  I am  _ not _ a fucking robot.”

Rhys didn’t understand how Jack met the red-eyed glare of Wilhelm without flinching, but he knew that he had to diffuse the situation before the CEO’s temper got the both of them killed.

 

“J-Jack, the meeting is in 5 minutes. M-maybe we should go?” The omega nervously looked between the alpha and the mech.  “Also, maybe not a good idea to piss off someone with a giant freaking cannon on their shoulder.  Just - just putting that out there.”

 

Jack scoffed, “Whatever.  Let’s go then.”

 

Wilhelm kneeled down and the cockpit opened, allowing Captain Lawrence to climb out.  He jumped down to join them, helmet back in place.  He made no move to take it off.

 

“Lead the way then,  _ sweetheart _ .”

  
  


=======================================================

  
  


“No.  _ No no no he can’t be-” _

 

“He’s gone.  I’m so sorry-”

 

“SHUT UP!!  Just- just, SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

 

In another universe, a man falls to his knees after disconnecting an ECHOcomm by throwing it across the room, roaring in grief at its shattered remains.  Uncontrolled sobs echo throughout the cabin of the ship.

 

Timothy Lawrence was glad he was alone when he received the worst news of his life; his brother - his stupid, overbearing, loving, asshole of a brother - was MIA, presumed dead.  He was glad that his poor niece was planetside for her final lessons of the week with her mentor.  It gave him time.  Time to process the news that he never, never,  _ never _ wanted to hear about his brother.

 

“Oh fuck, _Jack_.  You stupid - _you_ _bastard_ \- what am I gonna say?”

 

How was he supposed to tell Angel that her father wasn’t gonna be home for her birthday, wasn’t going to be home ever again?

 

“ _ Dammit Jack _ , you weren’t supposed to leave me too.  You  _ promised _ you asshole!  You promised.”

 

=======================================================

 

He felt hollowed out.  Angel’s sobs brought tears back to his eyes as he clung to her just as tightly as she did.  Part of him was afraid that if he left go of the last person he had left in this godforsaken universe, he would fly apart at the seams.

 

“U-Uncle Timmy. . .” The little girl started, her watery voice barely audible from where her face was buried in his sweater.

 

Tim wiped at his eyes and swallowed past the lump in his throat, “Y-yes sweetie?”

 

“Daddy, he - he wasn’t alone, right?  Uncle Will was with him, right?”

 

His heart shattered.  He didn’t know for sure; couldn’t remember what the officer had said on the call, but he  _ hoped. _

 

“No, no he wasn’t alone baby girl.  He was with Wilhelm and his squad.”  Tim felt that the words would seem worthless now, but he added what he did remember, “Your dad was a hero.  He saved Pandora from a very bad monster.”

 

Angel nodded, her shoulders shaking as she began to loudly sob again.  Timothy had no idea if his words helped, but he wouldn’t stop holding her until she was ready.  That was fine.  He wasn’t ready to let her go yet anyways.  They would have to warp to Pandora soon, however.

 

That’s where his brother’s empty casket was scheduled to be buried in a week's time.

 

=======================================================

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Rhys, Jack, and Captain Lawrence sat down in the conference room.  The tension was palpable as Rhys setup the connection to the Hyperion network, shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he did so.  The Captain slouched in his seat and sighed.

 

“Look, I think we can both agree that we are making Rhys uncomfortable with our shit.” The Captain began, looking at his alternate self from behind the passive blankness the helmet provided.

 

Jack swiveled in his chair to glare at the man, crossing his arms,“And I should give a shit about cupcake’s comfort,  _ why _ , exactly?  Matter of fact, why do  _ you _ care so much?”

 

Rhys was very interested in Captain Lawrence’s answer but continued to work on setting up the connections to all the department heads Jack had requested for the conference call.  He didn’t want to involve himself in the dispute between the two alphas.

 

“It’s bad fucking manners that’s why,” The pilot continued, voice tense, “Omega’s are well known to be highly empathetic, and they suffer for that shit too.  Rhys picked up on my emotions earlier, and he reacted to them.  How do you think he feels when you're projecting those ‘angry-murderous’ vibes you got going on there.”

 

Jack grunted and looked to the omega, “That true, pumpkin?”

 

Rhys jumped as Jack addressed him, “Uh, well.  Y-yeah.”

 

Jack narrowed his eyes at the omega, “Never seemed to bother you before.”

 

Rhys shrugged, “I internalize my emotions.  Aaand eat a lot of ice cream.  Pretty sure my doctor is going to murder me on my next exam.”

 

Jack just growled at the omega and Rhys winced, shoulders drawing up defensively.  Captain Lawrence face-palmed, the clack of his armored hand hitting his helmet breaking the other alpha’s angry glare away from the omega.

 

“Clearly this is going nowhere.  Let’s just get this over with.”

 

“Whatever.”

 

Rhys took that as his cue to initiate the conference call and settled in to take notes.

 

 

 


End file.
